History of Perry County, Pennsylvania, including descriptions of Indians and pioneer life from the time of earliest settlement, sketches of its noted men and women and many professional men, Part 43

Author: Hain, Harry Harrison, 1873- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Harrisburg, Pa., Hain-Moore company
Number of Pages: 1102


USA > Pennsylvania > Perry County > History of Perry County, Pennsylvania, including descriptions of Indians and pioneer life from the time of earliest settlement, sketches of its noted men and women and many professional men > Part 43


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answered. That the ferry was established in 1788 and that Daniel Clark was the pioneer ferryman comes down the years through the starting of an opposition ferry by Francis Ellis, who evidently advertised his ferry and thus caused the following notice to be in- serted in the Oracle, a paper printed in Harrisburg, in July, 1800 :


"Clark's Ferry, fourteen miles above Harrisburg .- The subscriber has conducted the ferry for twelve years past without the assistance of news- paper bombast; but an advertiser in the last Oracle makes it necessary. Francis Ellis takes the liberty of inviting travelers to Mathias Flam's land- ing, where he has no right or privilege whatever, except that of usurpation and force, for which he and Mathias Flam both stand indicted. He also boasts of the sobriety and experience of his ferryman, additional build- ings, &c., &c.


"All I wish to inform the public is that I am still in possession of both sides as formerly, with the same hands, same flats, and same buildings, ready to receive passengers on both sides. I hope my long experience and attention to this ferry may satisfy the public that no exertion will be wanting on my part to merit a continuance of their favors-and to defeat the efforts of this modern adventurer, and support the credit and interest of this ferry." DANIEL, CLARK.


Clark's Ferry Dauphin side, July 1, 1800.


There was also a tavern on the Dauphin side of this ferry, prob- ably in the possession of this Daniel Clark. The ferry was in operation until 1838, when the Juniata Bridge Company erected a bridge, from which date its business rapidly told of the end. Before the days of the canal and railroads, over this ferry and the old turnpike passed the stream of Conestoga wagons, bear- ing the traffic of the early settlers and the merchandise of western Pennsylvania. In the old inn-yard could be seen often a dozen or more of these wagons, drawn by six or eight horses, which were being fed while awaiting their turn to be ferried. The Robert Clark, who was one of the proprietors of the pioneer stage line in 1808, was a son of John Clark, who kept the tavern at the western landing of the ferry, now the Smith house.


That the ferry was located at this old location in 1832 is proven by the following from Gordon's Gazetteer of Pennsylvania, pub- lished in that year: "Clark's Ferry (and post office), located upon the Susquehanna, below the confluence of the Juniata with the Sus- quehanna and above the town of Petersburg." Petersburg was the old or original part of Duncannon located adjoining the Juniata Creek and the Susquehanna.


THE BASKINS' FERRY.


The Baskins' Ferry, established at the Juniata's mouth, where the rivers meet, dates back almost to the first settlement. The ex- act date cannot be determined, but as early as the spring of 1767


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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA


the Cumberland County Court was presented with a number of petitions, among them being one to open a road "from Baskins' Ferry, on the Susquehanna, to Andrew Stephens' Ferry, on the Juniata," which shows that it was then already in existence. The Baskins' Ferry is here mentioned as on the Susquehanna. Its west shore could almost be considered that, as it was almost at the very mouth of the Juniata. It was owned and operated by James Baskins. It was at this old ferry that Capt. Alexander Stephens, grandfather of the noted Alexander H. Stephens, Vice-President of the Confederacy, first beheld and fell in love with the ferry- man's fair daughter, who later became his wife. The ferry was operated by various generations of the Baskins family until 1839. when the bridge over the river at that point was built. Cornelius Baskins, Sr., a grandson of James Baskins, then operated it. When the great flood of 1865 swept away the bridge Mr. Baskins at once reestablished the ferry. It was during the time of the ending of the great Sectional War, and hundreds of government mules and horses were ferried across the Juniata. The rates charged were ten cents for a passenger, fifteen cents for each horse, twenty-five cents for a horse and carriage, and fifty cents for a team and conveyance. Over this early ferry went the trader, the itinerant missionary, the circuit rider, the tradesman, the drover, Indians, travelers, hunters and the varied traffic of that early day. Over the bridge at the same point now goes the traffic of the countryside, the tourist in palatial car and attendant traffic of another generation.


An act of the Pennsylvania Legislature passed April 12, 1866, recognized "Mitchell and Cornelius Baskins as having conducted a ferry at that point for over fifty years, and (as the bridge had been taken away by a flood) empowered them to make good and convenient landings on both sides, and as having the exclusive right. A provision of the act required that the fees be approved by the Perry County Courts. Cornelius Baskins had established a tavern in the stone house on the western bank, near the landing at one time. In connection with the ferry at this period the fol- lowing may be of interest. When the bridge was swept away in 1865 it was not rebuilt. A special act of the Pennsylvania Legis- lature made its rebuilding mandatory by January 1, 1874, the cost not to exceed $18,000. A further act of April 10, 1873, allowed Perry County to borrow money for that purpose and be bonded for the amount. When the flood of 1889 again swept away the bridge Jacob Johnson reestablished the ferry under the old charter of Cornelius Baskins and conducted it until the iron bridge was built. The poet has pictured the place in verse :


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RIVERS, STREAMS AND OLD FERRIES


ON THE BRIDGE WHERE THE RIVERS MEET.


BY CHARLES JOHNS.


Years ago, when the wind was low And the east was dim with grey


And the west was red with the sunset glow, And the daylight ebbed away, And never a sound came through the night Save the rush of the waters fleet,


[ stood where I stand in the waning light, On the bridge where the rivers meet.


The years have come and the years have gone, And have left their marks on me;


But the river unchanged speeds gaily on To the ever changing sea ; The hills are unaltered far and near, And the still scene is complete ;


I alone seem changed, and linger here,


On the bridge where the rivers meet.


OTHER FERRIES.


Miller's Ferry. This ferry was established as early as 1788, for in that year an article in the Columbian Magazine mentions it. Its location was over the Juniata at Millerstown, and David Miller, who had purchased 222 acres of land where Millerstown is lo- cated, in 1780, was the owner. It was operated until 1839, when a bridge was erected over the river at that point. An earlier bridge company had been incorporated in 1814 to build a bridge over the Juniata "at Miller's Ferry, in Cumberland County."


Reiders' Ferry. The ferry across the Juniata River at Newport was established at an early day by Paul, John and Daniel Reider, sons of Paul Reider. The exact date of its establishment is un- known, but it was not prior to 1804, as in that year they only came into possession of the property, and statements show that it was started "after coming into possession of the property." During the war of 1812-14 this ferry was crossed by dispatch riders carry- ing messages from the National Capital to the Canadian frontier. It was in existence until 1851, when a bridge was erected at that point, although the Reiders' Ferry Bridge Company had been first chartered April 4, 1838.


Rope Ferry. The Rope Ferry was located at North's Island, between Millerstown and Newport, on the Juniata. It was so named by reason of the method of ferrying canal boats across the dam from the canal on one side to that on the other, as at that point all canal boats were taken across by a rope attachment, being further described in the chapter devoted to "River and Canal Transportation."


Fetterman's Ferry. Fetterman's Ferry crossed the Juniata, sev- eral miles east of the present site of Newport. The Howe Town-


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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA


ship end was known as Fetterman's Ferry, and the Miller Town- ship end as Power's Ferry. At the Miller Township side was a stone tavern, the walls of which still stand, on the Oliver Rice farm. Power's Ferry. See Fetterman's Ferry, immediately preceding. Beelen's Ferry. In 1814 Francis Beelen warranted 328 acres of land, at the present site of Bailey Station, on the Pennsylvania Railroad. He established a parade grounds there for the state ini- litia and conducted a ferry. This ferry also crossed the Juniata. from Howe to Miller Townships. Beelen's Ferry and post office were described in Gordon's Gazetteer of Pennsylvania (1832) as being "on the right bank of the Juniata River, in Juniata (now Miller) Township, eight miles northeast of New Bloomfield, twenty-three miles from Harrisburg, and 129 miles from Wash- ington City." There was once an effort made to capitalize a ferry company there, as noted in "Special Legislation" in this book.


Sheaffer's Ferry. This ferry was only for foot passengers and was for long years conducted by Reuben Sheaffer and family, crossing the Juniata at what was originally known as Poor Man's Spring, now Iroquois Station, on the Pennsylvania Railroad. Mr. Sheaffer was one of the most experienced rivermen, and no mem- ber of his family was unskilled in the same line.


The Flamm or Watts Ferry. Mathias Flamm, who resided on the east side of the Susquehanna River, and David Watts, who resided on the west side, near the junction of the two rivers, operated a ferry over the Susquehanna before 1799, as an act of the Legis- lature of March 8, 1799, confirms. The location is stated thus :


"Whereas, Mathias Flamm owns land on the east side of the Susque- hanna, opposite the mouth of Juniata, and David Watts on the west side, where the state road crosses the Susquehanna, and that they have established and maintained a ferry at the place for a number of years, they are empowered by law, at this date, to establish and keep same in repair, and build landings, etc."


The Hulings' Ferry. Marcus Hulings lived on the point of land between the rivers, long known as the Reutter farm, for a year prior to 1755, when the Indian invasion drove him away. He came back in 1762, and there is record that he operated a ferry over the Juniata at that point, having built a causeway over the channel which connected the two rivers above Duncan's Island. As he says nothing of having had a ferry, when petitioning for the resto- ration of his lines in 1762, it evidently was subsequent to this.


Liverpool Ferry. The Liverpool Ferry is older than the town of Liverpool, for when John Huggins laid out that town in 1808 he reserved "to himself, his heirs and assigns forever all ferries and ferry rights, now made or hereafter to be inade or erected." On May 21, 1834, he conveyed all of that one-half or west side of ferry known by the name of Liverpool Ferry, to Richard and


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RIVERS, STREAMS AND OLD FERRIES


Robert Rogers. There may have been a reason for this, as evi- dently the Rogers brothers were operating a ferry of their own as early as 1819, probably from the Dauphin side, as the following advertisement in the Harrisburg Republican of December 31, 1819, would indicate :


The subscribers beg leave to inform the public that they have estab- lished a ferry on the Susquehanna River at Liverpool, Cumberland County. They have provided good craft and employed careful and attentive ferry- men, who will be ready at all times to accommodate those who may wish to cross the river at that place, with the least possible delay.


December 24, 1819.


RICHARD ROGERS. ROBERT ROGERS.


The purchase of the Huggins' interests may have been the means of combining rivals. On August 4, 1832, they in turn sold to Daniel Bogar, who on March 24. 1838, conveyed it to Isaac Meck. Twenty years later, after gaining a competence, Mr. Meck sold it to John Shank. A charter was granted for this same ferry in 1867 to William Inch. Subsequently Peleg Sturtevant and H. F. Zaring owned and operated it under the Inch charter for years, or until 1894, when they brought suit against Israel Ritter and Sons for infringing upon their rights by running ferry boats in opposition. The difficulty was finally settled by Ritter & Sons buying the rights of Sturtevant & Zaring and thus gaining sole control. They then sold to Chas E. Deckard and brothers, who later sold to Chas. H. Snyder. With others Mr. Snyder formed a corporation or stock company and a charter was issued to the new corporation, known as the Liverpool Ferry Company, which is now managed and con- trolled by H. A. S. Shuler.


Crow's Ferry. Crow's Ferry is the main ferry between Dun- cannon and Sunbury, where the Susquehanna is bridged. It is located at a point on the river a few miles below Liverpool, and its eastern terminus is at the town of Millersburg, Dauphin County. It is a gateway from the famed Lykens Valley and Pottsville to the West, on a much-traveled route, and should be bridged by the state. It is noted for romantic beauty and is a famous picnic resort. From that point a fine view of the river is to be had. According to tradition there was a ferry there before Millersburg existed. Over it passed the immigration westward from the Pottsville sec- tion in pioneer times. The ferry was operated by Isaac Crow as far back as 1860. Some time after this George and Joe Kramer started to ferry from the east side of the river, the Crows ferrying from the west side. About 1865 both parties took out charters and both thought them good to ferry only one way. On April 12. 1872, an act of the Pennsylvania Legislature gave to "Isaac Crow, his heirs and assigns the right to make landings as far north as the , canal lock below Liverpool and as far south as Mt. Patrick, and


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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA


on the east side of the river, along the line of the Borough of Mil- lersburg." Two years prior to that time Levi McConnell has been employed by Isaac Crow to run the ferry. and in 1872 he and Richard McConnell bought it. About the same time the Kramers sold their charter to Joseph Johnson. After a few years of ferry- ing one way by both parties the owners found that if the charters were good for ferrying one way they were good for the other. Then was begun a famous law suit that extended over fifteen years and ouly terminated when Levi McConnell bought the charter rights from Ramsey Moyer, who then owned the Kramer charter.


The owners since then have been as follows: The half interest owned by Levi McConnell was sold by him to George W. Seiler in 1902, from whom it passed to his father, J. A. Seiler, in 1905. In 1906 Walter Hunter purchased this interest and is the present owner. The half interest owned by Richard McConnell was sold by his administrator in 1896 to H. M. Hain, who sold it to Annie ( McConnell) Miller and P. E. McConnell in 1808. Two years later the latter bought the former's share. P. E. McConnell, in 1904, sold to John Travitz, who sold to Thomas Radle in 1907. Mr. Radle still owns this interest.


Montgomery's Ferry. The date of the establishment of Mont- gomery's Ferry, across the Susquehanna, is unknown, but it was established by William Montgomery and, as he acquired the prop- erty on November 17, 1827, it was probably after that time. This ferry has also long ceased operations. At its eastern landing are located the great Mcclellan coal yards. In Dauphin County this ferry was known as Moorehead's Ferry, by reason of a family of that name residing there, from whom sprang Congressman Moore- head and the noted Pittsburgh Mooreheads.


Moorehead's Ferry. See Montgomery's Ferry, immediately pre- ceding.


Baughman's Ferry. The history of this ferry is veiled in ob- scurity, but when the New Buffalo lots were advertised in 1820 the advertisement locates them at Baughman's Ferry. In his deeds Jacob Baughman reserved "to himself, his heirs and assigns for- ever, the exclusive right to the ferry and fisheries on the river oppo- site the town. In 1823, his executor, in advertising lots, omits "at Baughman's Ferry," and states the location as five miles above Clark's Ferry, from which one would infer that the Baughman Ferry was out of business.


CHAPTER XXI.


RIVER AND CANAL TRANSPORTATION.


Oh! Boatman, blow that horn again, For never did the listening air, Upon its joyous bosom bear So wild, so soft, so sweet a strain!


What though thy notes are sad and few, By every common boatman blown, Yet is each pulse to nature true, And melody in every tone .- Selected.


T HIS book would not be complete without containing some- thing of that old canal life, of the alluring call of the canal, with its fascinating and enchanting hours upon and along those old and historic waterways and of the scenic beauty of their courses. Located along two as picturesque rivers as drain any territory in the United States, passing through fertile field and valley, by high and towering mountains, their very edges hugging precipitous bluffs, behind which the sun was hidden long before sunset, their shadows cooled the brow of many a boatman during his long and tiresome hours. Those were halcyon days, but they are gone forever. The mighty monster propelled by steam, its very metal creaking with energy, has grasped from that generation the commerce of the continent and hauls many, many times the product in a very small part of the time consumed on the canal. But the canals played a great part in the development of the nation, and it is yet a question whether the State of Pennsylvania did not make a mistake in their sale. If we had canal transportation to-day, would we not be burning cheaper coal? Canals are still in use in other states for the transportation of goods that are not in an immediate hurry.


The history of the first waterways goes back to the time when the forests still resounded with the war whoop of the red men. The earlier recollection of traffic on and along the Juniata and Susque- hanna Rivers has been handed down in song and story. Perchance, even before the Indian there may have been a race here and they may have used the waters for transportation, but there are no rec- ords or any evidence supporting such fact. In the case of the In- dians, however, actual occurrences, even with dates, are available. Elsewhere in this book is an account, among others, of the bringing down the river of two Indians from Shamokin (now Sunbury ). : charged with murder. Evidently they had no larger craft than


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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA


their famous canoes; and with these they brought down the river loads of furs, which they exchanged for blankets, trinkets, fire- arms and "fire water." In it the dusky warrior wooed the Indian maiden, even as does his white brother of the present day, and


THE OLD PENNSYLVANIA CANAL.


The Village is Mt. Patrick and the Mountain in the Back- ground the end of Berry Mountain, also known as Mt. Patrick.


probably just as ardently, for somewhere we have read that ro- mance is an outcropping of nature, and nature is much alike every- where.


When the white settlers came in, they found the Indians using canoes, and they naturally adapted them, but in a short time some-


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thing larger was needed, and the batteau followed. John Harris, the original settler of what is now our beautiful State Capital, in a letter dated Paxton, April 17, 1756, says:


"The canoes that must be employed for service on our river, are in general too small; therefore, it is absolutely necessary to have a small number of battoes (batteaux) immediately made, as they will carry a much larger burden, keep but the same number of hands employed in working them up the river as our small canoes will, and will certainly answer the purpose better, as the sides will be higher to keep out the waves in our falls, many of which will be always to pass through, and in high winds, which may sometime happen. There will not be the least danger of passing up and down this river in a battoe, when a canoe must be unloaded or damage her cargo; therefore, as I think myself a judge of our river navigation and the most necessary and serviceable vessels to be employed in it, I think it my duty to write you this letter, and also to inform you that William Chestnut will supply you with suitable plank, upon getting directions to make the battoes; the boards, I imagine, are not to be sawed after the common manner." I am, sir,


Your most obedient servant, JOHN HARRIS.


There is record of the waters of the Juniata and Susquehanna being used for transportation of surplus farm products as early as 1794. In that year an "ark," the name given it by the builder, built by an enterprising German miller named Kryder, of near Huntingdon, and laden with flour, floated down the rivers to Bal- timore, braving the terrors of the falls at various points, especially below Middletown, where navigation with small craft was then considered impossible. His success caused the building of many arks; and when the stages of the waters permitted it the follow- ing years, they came down the rivers laden with flour, grain and whiskey, on their way to possible markets. Until the advent of the canals they were largely in use. Shortly afterwards the Cone- wago Canal at York Haven was commenced, and when completed, in 1797 or 1798, keel-bottom boats passed through. Columbia then became a mart of importance, a great deal of the trade in wheat being drawn from Middletown. In a few years, however, these boats were plying clear through to the bay.


The use of keel-bottoms on the Juniata and Susquehanna Rivers was very common prior to the coming of the canal, and in the fall of 1919, the late Prof. L. E. McGinnes, superintendent of the Steelton (Pennsylvania) schools, told of his father having done his marketing with them over the Juniata between Patterson's (now the Lewis Steckley place, in Howe Township) and New- port, early in the last century.


Even between the canoe and the batteau the row boat found a place, and it remains to this day. After the ark and used coinci- dentally were the large flats or boats, which carried much greater tonnage than the arks, and which transported down the river huge


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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA


loads of produce, such as beef, pork, grain, lumber, etc. Coming up stream these boats were poled, usually by four or six men, who placed their poles on the river bottom at the front end of the boat and walked its length, consecutively taking their places, thus con- stantly keeping the boat in motion. Rings had been placed in rocks in the river where there were falls and with the use of ropes and a windlass the boats were drawn up over the falls, otherwise an impossibility. Several iron rings yet remain at the Iroquois Falls, in the Juniata. This was done at the falls below Liverpool and at Mt. Patrick, and at the latter place the tourist can see to-day a narrow neck of land overgrown with bushes, jutting down stream from the falls, about a hundred feet from the Perry County shore. This was originally a wall built by these early boatmen to help get their boats over the falls, the channel being wider at the top so as to divert additional water into this waterway. Not far from this old waterway at Mt. Patrick, at the same falls, is a place in the river known as "the salmon hole." It covers approximately three acres of water, the depth of which is uniformly about eighteen feet.


These old "arks," which carried the traffic before the days of the canal, did a considerable business. From figures available from eight up-river counties in 1824 it is found that there was floated down the river 823,000 bushels of wheat, 17,500 bushels of clover- seed, 9,200 barrels of whiskey, and 3,260,000 pounds of pork. When the arks were in use E. Bosserman and James Everhart built one at Newport, and from the old Kough warehouse took clown the river a cargo of flour and pig iron, the latter being manufactured by Mr. Everhart at Juniata furnace, and sold at Port Deposit. The Koughs were grain and commission merchants, and this was the first lot of flour for export ever brought to New- port. Among farmers who built arks were the Wagners and Grubbs, of Liverpool, whose boats were windlassed up over the falls at Conewago, Mt. Patrick, and below Liverpool.


Following the arks came the raft, especially for transporting the immense lumber product from the northern part of the state; and until recent years, when the spring freshets were passing towards the sea, they carried with them annually millions of feet of lumber ready for market. Liverpool, Montgomery's Ferry, and New Buf- falo were points at which the raftsmen "tied up" for the night and for days during bad weather, and many were the tales told by old rivermen of the times had at the old-time taverns in these towns, when rafting was in its heyday. At these places the rafts fre- quently extended for a mile in both directions from the town.




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